Field Music

With the recent success of acts like Maximo Park and the Futureheads, it seems like there’s good reason to reside in dreary North Eastern England. Sunderland’s Field Music can certainly capitalise on their scene, as well as the fact that they’re signed to the hottest indie label in the world right now — Memphis Industries, who also boast the Go! Team and Dungen as their acts. Field Music, however, have little in common with their label-mates, but share both their neighbourhood bands’ love for arty pop music as well as members (co-front-man Peter Brewis drummed for the Futureheads, whose Barry Hyde drummed for Field Music, as well as Maximo Park’s Tom English, who manned the kit for this record). With that said, you may think you have Field Music pegged, however, they swap the angular post-punkisms for sunny orchestral pop that always keep you guessing with impeccable stop-start intensity. Peter and his brother David Brewis share vocal duties with the perfect pitch consistency of the Wilson clan, flawlessly phasing in and out of falsetto on "Got to Write a Letter.” Andrew Moore, on the other hand, tickles the piano with unbridled animation along to the Brewis guitars on single "You Can Decide,” which comes off as a well-mannered version of Big Star’s "Kizza Me.” And if "Shorter Shorter” doesn’t sound like a Shins/Sparks mash-up, nothing could. Near-perfect in almost every step, Field Music’s debut album is an unforeseen gem that will hopefully find the success their peers have and then some.